The Deep-Sea Podcast by Thomas Linley

December 07, 2025 Cephstravanganza with Professor Kat Bolstad

In our newest episode, we join roving reporter Kat Bolstad at the Cephalopod International Advisory Council in Okinawa and hear from some of the most interesting people in Cephalopod research.

Check out our lovely new website where you can find more detailed notes, images and links to the wider reading.

In this episode…

Welcome back to the Deep-Sea Podcast, your punk take on all things deep sea!

The Professor is still down under, organizing conferences and recuperating from Old Mate’s Classic Aussie Sausage Sizzle, a robust event filled with friends of the podcast and still felt 24 hours later.

Thom is freshly back from another big ocean/small boat adventure, in which the ocean always wins and his stomach always loses… everything. He is also stretching his creative muscles and curating an exciting new museum exhibit called Breathe | Mauri Ora at Te Papa, an examination of science into art by Marshmallow Lazer Feast.

Our episode this month is a fascinating collection of interviews from the Cephalopod International Advisory Council Meeting that took place Oct-Nov in Okinawa Japan. Join Kat Bolstad, our roving reporter, as she takes time between bug hunting, seeing her first wild cuttlefish and shaking hands with a new octopus friend to collect interviews with some of the coolest names in Ceph science with a focus on the deep-sea. We hear from 12 Cephalopod experts on a wide variety of topics, including the preferred snacks for cephalopods, the effects of oxygen depletion on egg hatching, water temperature and acidification effects on cephalopod populations, and of course, the correct answer to the viral question: are octopuses actually ALIENS?

In the news, get ready for updates on:

Deep diving manta rays using the ocean bottom to navigate

A newly launched AI tool to map the Deep- Sea

Bright blue mud filled with fat molecules indicating life in the deep

Corals and Crinoids sharing symbionts and cycling nitrogen

And an update from the Unseen Ocean Collective about the work they are creating for a show in Juneau Alaska in 2026.

On the Discord, we’ve been busy with:

Voting on the Holiday Party movie

Started a long overdue ART channel, and a new Pets channel

Photo tours of submersibles and Okinawa

Early Holiday celebrations by one of our hosts

Great feedback and conversation on our last episode.

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Thanks again for tuning in; we’ll deep-see you next time!

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